Trump Signs Bill Providing Hurricane Relief, Raising Debt Ceiling

"I think that's ridiculous and disgraceful that they want to play politics with the debt ceiling at this moment when we have fellow citizens in need", he said.

United States President Donald Trump has forged a surprising deal with Democrats in Congress to extend the U.S. debt limit and provide government funding until Dec 15, embracing his political adversaries and blindsiding fellow Republicans in a rare bipartisan accord. Among the defections were four Republican representatives from Texas, the state hit hardest by the hurricane.

House passage, by a 316-90 vote, fended off what could have been a month-end fiscal crisis, and assured FEMA won't run out of money.

"Vulnerable House Republicans voting against relief for American families still reeling from Hurricane Harvey would be reckless and cruel on its own, but the fact that it was also a vote for a government shutdown and defaulting on America's debt gives new meaning to the word irresponsible", Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Tyler Law told HuffPost.

The package would fund the government and extend US borrowing authority through December 8, as well as provide an initial $15 billion for Harvey in Texas. "We have yet again missed an opportunity for substantial reforms and reduced spending".

Hard-line conservative Republicans have often opposed increasing the debt ceiling without cuts in federal spending.

"These are the president's immediate priorities, these are my immediate priorities, and they are critically important to establishing certainty and stability as our country continues to recover from a record-setting storm and prepare for yet another". Trump said. As he has in the past, Trump bemoaned a Senate rule that requires a supermajority of 60 votes to pass legislation without exposing it to opposition tactics that could block it. Some 800,000 of these immigrants are now protected from deportation by temporary work permits granted by an Obama administration program, but Trump has said he will dismantle it.

Some analysts, however, expressed optimism that more bipartisan cooperation may be on the horizon, at a time of bitter partisanship between the two parties - so much that it has kept lawmakers in legislative deadlock at a crucial time. 8 Dems control - will rarely get 60 (vs. 51) votes.

President Donald Trump will receive a briefing on Hurricane Irma later today from Camp David, where he is meeting with his Cabinet.

It seems that President Trump has done what he was elected to do: Make deals.

The White House sent Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to chat with the House GOP conference ahead of Friday's vote to get enough of them onboard. She said that after a discussion with Democratic lawmakers about fears in the immigrant community, she had planned to call White House Chief of Staff John Kelly Thursday morning to talk about it.